qualified immunity
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Lawsuit from men wrongly arrested for Denver shooting dismissed by federal appeals court
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The Colorado-based federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit last week from two men who were arrested as suspects in a downtown Denver shooting when they instead appeared to be the targets. Trevor Puller and Deandre Hutchinson alleged that they were driving in Lower Downtown at around 2 a.m. in April 2021 when an unidentified man…
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10th Circuit upholds verdict against Denver, officer for protest-related violations
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The Colorado-based federal appeals court on Tuesday turned aside multiple challenges to a 2022 jury verdict that found Denver and one of its officers violated the constitutional rights of protesters and were liable for $14 million. In the first of many lawsuits culminating in a jury trial, 12 plaintiffs largely succeeded in arguing that Denver’s…
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Federal judge dismisses malicious prosecution claim against former Denver prosecutor
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A federal judge concluded on Monday that a former Denver prosecutor could not be sued for allegedly causing the arrests of two plaintiffs after they failed to appear for trial on the scheduled date, even though the trial had been postponed. Victoria Carbajal and Luis Leal first filed suit more than a decade ago, alleging…
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Federal judge green-lights excessive force trial against Fort Collins officers
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A federal judge concluded last week that a jury will need to resolve whether two Fort Collins police officers violated a man’s constitutional rights by using excessive force after he refused to accept a citation. In a Jan. 21 order, U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney analyzed the severity of plaintiff Andru Kulas’ alleged…
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10th Circuit dismisses paralyzed man’s claims against Colorado Springs, officer
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The Denver-based federal appeals court upheld the dismissal last week of a man’s excessive force claims against the city of Colorado Springs and the officer who tased him, causing him to fall down a sloped surface and break his neck. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit declined to…
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10th Circuit rebuffs Jeffco’s attempt to expand immunity footprint
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The Denver-based federal appeals court confirmed on Wednesday that it would not treat a judge’s decision to move a civil case forward as the automatic equivalent of denying immunity to governmental officials. The order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit came one month after a trial judge deemed Jefferson County’s appeal…
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Federal judge declines to dismiss claims against prison officials for seizure-related death
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A federal judge declined last month to dismiss the claims against numerous prison employees for a man’s in-custody death following several seizures and his repeated ingestion of liquified pain-numbing medication. The mother and minor children of Victor Esquivel sued the state’s corrections director, prison supervisors, corrections officers, medical employees and a medical staffing firm after…
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Federal judge deems Jeffco’s appeal ‘frivolous’ in jail death case
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A federal judge declared Jefferson County’s appeal of his evidentiary decision “frivolous” on Thursday, which enables him to continue handling the civil rights litigation even as an appellate court separately addresses the appeal. The order from U.S. District Court Judge S. Kato Crews came three days after a hearing in which the plaintiffs’ attorney warned…
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‘Utterly no precedent’: Federal judge expresses concerns about Jeffco’s early appeal in jail death case
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A federal judge shared his concerns on Monday about Jefferson County’s appeal of a routine procedural order in a constitutional rights case, which the plaintiffs argued could spawn appeal-related delays in countless lawsuits against the government. During a hearing, U.S. District Court Judge S. Kato Crews noted he could find no decisions backing up the…
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10th Circuit hears Denver, officer’s request to overturn $14M jury verdict after 2020 protests
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Members of the Colorado-based federal appeals court considered on Wednesday whether a judge committed errors in the 2022 civil trial where jurors found Denver liable for $14 million for violating the constitutional rights of protesters. In the first lawsuit of many to culminate in a jury trial, 12 plaintiffs largely succeeded in arguing Denver’s own…